1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in electronic enclosure cases, and more particularly, to electronic enclosure cases which are comprised of a pair of mating abuttable shells and which are relatively incapable of being unauthorizedly opened and which also have a unique construction so that they can be used for housing a number of different electronic components and circuits without material alteration of the case.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous commercially available case constructions for housing and containing various electronic apparatus. Many types of electronic apparatus usually contain individual discrete electronic components which are hard-wired in a desired electrical pattern or otherwise, they are comprised of one or more circuit boards containing those chips or components necessary to perform the desired electronic circuit functions.
Electronic enclosure cases of this type have found widespread use in numerous applications including, for example, handheld remote control access devices or so-called "beepers", remote control auto security system actuators, garage door openers and the like. Electronic circuitry and components contained in relatively small enclosure cases have also been used in the health industry, as for example, in the housing of the electronics for cardiac monitors and the like.
In many cases, it is desirable to preclude access to the electronic components or circuits contained within the electronic enclosure housing or casing. It may be necessary to periodically change the batteries which provide the electrical power for the circuits. However, a separate battery compartment is usually provided for this purpose. Nevertheless, and in many cases, whether or not failure may be due to a weak battery, the user of the device will oftentimes attempt to self-diagnose any problem, and in many cases will damage the electronic components or the circuitry involved.
In order to preclude access to the interior of these electronic component casings, many manufacturers have resorted to mechanical fasteners such as screws which have less common types of screw heads, such as the Allen wrench heads or the Phillips heads. However, many consumers have access to tools of these types and are therefore able to obtain ready access to the interior of the electronic enclosure casing.
Other means for precluding access to the interior of the electronic enclosure casings have also been used with varying degrees of success. However, many of these other means for securing the casing almost necessarily make it more difficult and time consuming for authorized personnel, such as repair personnel, to open the casing.
Thus, there has been a need for an electronic enclosure casing which is capable of being rapidly and easily opened by authorized personnel bu which is relatively incapable of being opened for access to the interior thereof by unauthorized persons.
It would be desirable to provide a two-piece electronic component casing which could be of standardized construction inasmuch as this type of casing would materially reduce the overall cost of manufacture and hence the cost to the consumer. However, in many cases, the manufacturers of the electronic devices who utilize the electronic component casings have differening requirements, as for example, various controls which may be provided on the exterior of the casing for manual operation. Otherwise, the various manufacturers of electronic devices utilizing these casings may include jack outlets or the like on the exterior of the casing for connection to some external source of power or otherwise some auxiliary equipment. Thus, there has been no effective way to provide a standardized casing which can be used by a large number of electronic device manufacturers for the housing of their electronic components.